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04 August 2017

Free For All Friday No. 455 by Anita

I confess that I haven't read all of the posts on Philofaxy, so have started reading some of the older ones. The inaugural one back in 2005 covers the subject of 'In the beginning', so I thought that I would write a bit more about how I came to buy my first Filofax.

I purchased my first binder, a cherry personal Classic, back in 2009 after reading David Allen's book Getting Things Done. I'd always been an avid notebook user, but wanted something a bit nicer to use for my GTD system. After doing a search for 'leather refillable notebook', Filofax unsurprisingly came up and I used some birthday money to buy the Classic. I hadn't considered buying a Filofax prior to that, but a nice tactile leather binder in a portable size just seemed perfect to help me keep track of and plan projects and commitments. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, and I'm currently feeling very content using my red Winchester.

How did you come across, or start using a binder?

And as always on Fridays, please feel free to discuss and/or ask anything ring-binder related. Have a great weekend.

10 comments:

Early 1987 and my boss returned from the Time Manager (TMI) course with an organiser system that really impressed me. Previously, I assumed these things were just fancy diaries - whereas this had planning, information and contact sections. I quickly saw that the it was a brilliant way of identifying the key areas of your life, setting goals and breaking everything down into tasks and bit size activities. I was hooked! The company wouldn't pay for me to go on the two-day course, so I purchased the system and manual with my own funds and self-taught all the key parts of the system. I've used all the key elements in every organiser I've used since!

My very first was a Day-Timer Verona, desk size, in black. This is back when the binders had 3 rings instead of 7. It was a hand-me down from my mom. I used it throughout college mostly, before upgrading to Franklin Covey Sierra that had 7 LARGER rings.

I read all of the posts from the very beginning before I became a contributor, in fact I think I did it twice, the second time I included reading all the comments. I got to know in a virtual way all the 'characters' in the comments that way.

Anyone undertaking this task now is in for a long read, although ten posts a day would just about get you from start to finish in a year.

I had started the 'big read' having returned to using a Filofax after a gap of about 12 years! I still have my black Winchester from 1986

In the 80's, the radio station that I worked at sent all of the managers and sales staff to a Franklin Quest seminar and paid for the system for each of us. I had always been an organizational nut, so I was hooked. Although I hated the green inserts and black binder, because I love color. Eventually I branched out to DayTimer, DayRunner and Filofax. Other than a couple of years when PDAs came out, I have been using a (colorful) paper planner of one kind or another.

I was interested in personal organisation before I owned a Filofax, but I recall a curate from my then church having one in the 1970s, and I was impressed with it.

Around 1981, having used a variety of 'planning' diaries, I stumbled into the Lefax shop in Covent Garden, London, and that was it. I came out with a duplex Lefax, rather cheap in quality, a DPP diary and a variety of to-do and other inserts (Lefax had a *wide* range of inserts back then). I've not looked back.

My first Filofax was a Christmas gift, it wasn't an official Filofax, it was produced by CAT. I was a child when I was given the gift, I had always loved stationery and keeping notes, even then. The rings in the binder were the same size as the personal Filofax range and I soon found the Filofax brochure, thanks to my Aunt, and set about on a birthday list.

I now have a personal Stratford, and from the day I purchased it, I have always loved the soft leather cover. When I first unwrapped her the smell reminded me of black ballet shoes, and made me smile even more. Since the Stratford, I have purchased two other Filofax's but both were sold fairly quickly. I confess the Stratford has a little space in my heart.

I always had some sort of notebook plus a bound calendar since the beginning of my studies until 2006 when I moved from Germany to the UK. So on a stroll around a stationary store in Birmingham, I stumbled across a Filofax Fenchley in personal size with a discount on the original price. With my genuine interest on organising I plunged right into the world of ring bound planners and have used on ever since. Not even a blackberry device could deter me from a paper based planner, even with some experimental times in between where I referred less often to my Filofax.